Service of A-20 with USAAF

Last revised January 6, 2008

The A-20A initially entered service with the USAAF in mid-1941, first
being issued to the 3rd Bombardment Group (Light) based at Savannah,
Georgia. A-20As were soon issued to the 27th Bombardment Group
(Light). The engines of the A-20A were prone to overheating, and to
alleviate this problem holes had to be cut around the periphery of the
cowling just aft of the cylinder baffles. As soon as engine cooling
problems had been corrected, the Army commented favorably on the
qualities of the A-20A. The A-20A demonstrated its outstanding
features during war games held at Shreveport, Louisiana during
September of 1941. It had a performance comparable to that of many
first-line fighter aircraft of the period.

The 58th Bombardment Squadron received A-20As in late 1941, and was
stationed at Hickham Field in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese
attack on December 7, 1941. Two of its aircraft were destroyed on the
ground during the attack. At this time the 27th Bombardment Group
(minus its A-20As) was in the process of being sent to the Philippines
where it was to have been re-established as an A-20 unit. However, no
A-20s were available at that time to equip the 27th, and the first
operational unit to fly the A-20 in actual battle was the 89th
Bombardment Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group which began
operations from Port Moresby in New Guinea on August 31, 1942.

Shortly after the entry of the United States into the war, the USAAF
adopted the British practice of assigning popular names to its
aircraft. The USAAF A-20As were assigned the popular name Havoc,
since intruder and night fighter versions of the related DB-7 serving
with the Royal Air Force had already been so named

In early 1944, the 3rd Bombardment Group was joined in New Guinea by
the 312th and 417th Bombardment Groups. The 312th and 417th
Bombardment Groups began their combat operations with the A-20G from
the start and the 3rd BG converted to the A-20G at about the same
time. In September of 1944, there were 370 Havocs on duty with the
Fifth Air Force in the South West Pacific Area. They received quite a
bit of action in the New Guinea theatre of operation. Most sorties
were flown at low level, since Japanese flak was not nearly as intense
as was German flak in Europe. During these low level bombing
operations, it was found that there was little need for a bomb aimer.
Consequently, the bomb aimer was often replaced by additional
forward-firing machine guns mounted in a faired-over nose. The A-20's
heavy firepower, maneuverability, speed and bombload made it an ideal
weapon for pinpoint strikes against aircraft, hangers, and supply
dumps. In formation, their heavy forward firepower could overwhelm
shipboard anti-aircraft defenses and at low level the A-20s could skip
their bombs into the sides of transports and destroyers with deadly
effect. These tactics were initially worked out by Army Captain Paul
I. "Pappy" Gunn, who also adapted the same tactics to the B-25 Mitchell.
The spectacularly successful results of these field adaptations led to
increases in the forward firepower of production A-20 which were
introduced on the production line with the A-20G model.

Some Fifth Air Force A-20s had their heavy forward-firing armament
supplemented by clusters of three Bazooka-type rocket tubes underneath
each wing. These tubes each held an M8, T-30 4.5-inch spin-stabilized
rocket. These rocket launcher tubes turned out to be heavy and
complicated, and were generally more trouble than they were worth and
were not often used.

The A-20 groups turned their attention to the Philippines following
the end of the New Guinea campaign. By mid-April of 1944, three full
four-squadron A-20 groups of the 5th Air Force were active in the
island hopping campaign that led to the invasion of Luzon on January
7, 1945. After the Philippines were secured, A-20 units turned their
attention to Japanese targets on Formosa in early 1945.

The 312th
Bombardment Group had been originally scheduled to replace its A-20s with A-26
Invaders in early 1945, but General Kenney rejected the A-26, maintaining that
it did not meet the needs of strafer units in the Southwest Pacific arena and
a decision was made for the group to convert to the B-32 Dominator and become a Heavy Bombardment
Group. Both the 386th and the 387th
Squadron had completed the change by the end of the war, but the 387th and 389th
Squadrons still had their A-20s. The 417th BG did transition to the A-26, however.

The old 3rd Bombardment
Group still retained its A-20s until the end of the war, becoming the
last operational Army A-20 unit. At the end of the war, it was in
preparation to move to Okinawa in anticipation of the invasion of
Japan.

Although the Boston/Havoc had been in RAF service for some time, it
took a long time before USAAF A-20 crews could become operational in
the European theatre. In Europe, USAAF A-20 crews actually flew their
first combat missions while attached to RAF units. A single USAAF
crew from the 15th Bombardment Squadron flew a Boston III from No.
226 Squadron RAF on a sortie on June 29, 1942. Six crews from the
15th flew Boston IIIs from No 226 Squadron to join RAF crews in a July
4 raid against the Hazebrouck marshaling yards in Belgium. This raid
was publicized (incorrectly) as the first American air attack on
German forces. Three Havocs were lost and three damaged in what was
essentially a public relations operation to make up for previous
American inactivity in Europe. The 15th Bombardment Squadron later
acquired its own Boston IIIs from RAF stocks, but was transferred in
November 1942 to Algeria, where it was largely used for training
duties.

The first sizable commitment of A-20s under American control did not
take place until after Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North
Africa in November of 1942. The first USAAF A-20 group to participate
in large-scale combat in the North African theatre was the 47th
Bombardment Group. The crews used ferry tanks on their A-20s to cross
the Atlantic. The 47th BG flew its first combat mission from
Youks-les-Bains, Algeria on December 13, 1942. A-20s provided
valuable tactical support to US and British ground forces, especially
during and after the Kasserine Pass defeat. Their support helped save
the day, and eventually the Germans were forced back into a small
perimeter in Tunisia.

During the North African campaign, many of the A-20Bs were fitted with
additional forward-firing machine guns in the faired-over bomb aimer's
position. Following the German surrender in Tunisia in May of 1943,
the 47th subsequently moved to Malta, Sicily, Italy, Corsica, France,
and then back to Italy where in January 1945 it began to exchange its
A-20s for A-26 Invaders.

While the campaign in North Africa was still underway, plans were made
to build up a tactical air force in support of the upcoming invasion
of Europe. Three A-20 Bombardment Groups, the 409th, 410th, and 416th
were assigned to the 9th Air Force. The A-20G-equipped 416th
Bombardment Group began operations in March of 1944 as part of the
97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) of the Ninth Air Force. In April
and May of 1944, the similarly-equipped 409th and 410th Bombardment
Groups joined the 416th. Due to heavy German ground fire, losses
during low-level attacks against fixed targets were prohibitively high
and had to be stopped. They were replaced by medium-altitude raids
led by specially- modified A-20Gs equipped with Boston III glazed
noses, which were later replaced by glass-nosed A-20Ks. The
A-20G-equipped groups followd the advancing Allied forces into France,
but by the end of 1944 the 409th and 416th BGs had converted to A-26
Invaders. The 410th began flying night missions during the winter of
1944-45, but by the time of V-E Day this unit had also been
re-equipped with Invaders.

Following the end of the war, the Havocs and appropriated Bostons had
become surplus to USAAF requirements, and most were immediately
scrapped. However, a few surplus Havocs were offered on the surplus
market at very attractive prices--only $3000 apiece with a full tank
of fuel. Nevertheless, the A-20 never became very popular on the
civilian market. Converted A-20s were given a Limited Type
Certificate which did not allow them to carry passengers for revenue.
A couple of surplus Havocs were converted to high-speed executive
transports in which their interiors were modified with luxurious
accommodations, and some were converted as spraying aircraft for
fire-fighting or agricultural work. Less than half a dozen of these
conversions were made.